This will be a short post. My New Year greeting is in the video above and in the Seattle Times Newspaper on New Year’s day. The article was written by Jack Broom, a Seattle Times Reporter. I have not seen it yet. I just know it was published in this Sunday’s edition of the Times. I do not even know the title. I wish to thank Jack for his efforts; and Celinda my director, supervisor and mentor for allowing him to photograph me at work and being patient during the process.
Since Jack first started writing the article I have been talking with seniors off the record. What I have learned is many upper middle class Americans are becoming seniors and moving into the lower middle class or into the lower classes, economically. I think many are trying to block out the pain of once having had good paying jobs and once having been active contributing members of society and are now finding they are struggling to get even a low paying job. I hear a certain amount of sadness and depression in the personal stories others have shared with me. I know they will never see print. So, it was an honor to reveal my age and situation to the metropolis we call “Seattle.” I would very much like to encourage feedback, when you have read the Seattle Times article in the paper.
I wish all of the people whose lives I have touched a Happy New Year. Should it end on December 21, 2012 as predicted, I know I will have lived my life to the fullest and have not been afraid to love the people who have come into my life during 2011. Each of you are a gift and treasure. If I could place a precious stone on a bracelet to signify having met each one of you, I would have a bracelet so heavy, I would not be able to wear it.
This New Year will begin with the opening of the new quarter at Bellevue College. It will be a busy time in the Welcome and Information Center. As the months pass, I will be putting together the curriculum I began last quarter for the chair of the Criminal Justice department. When I finish the internship, I will be looking for a new challenge. So I wish for all of us a safe, happy, fulfilling year. If we live it as though it were our last year on earth, by this time next year…we will have stored treasures far beyond what we might imagined.
I lift my glass with you and repeat the following toast:
Aisha Elderwyn: Every new year people make resolutions to change aspects of themselves they believe are negative. A majority of people revert back to how they were before and feel like failures. This year I challenge you to a new resolution. I challenge you to just be yourself.
I leave you with those words and the old year 2011. Let us march into 2012 together: with hope, with love and with justice!
JOYSTECHTOOL 